i spent the summer of 2006 in anbar and fallujah. i was in baghdad before and after the surge. i participated in most of the search operations south of baghdad. there was a big fight in sadir city in 2008 that i spent a substantial amount of time in. i feel like i saw it in the beginning, during and after the surge. the most recent trip back was over a year ago it was primarily to interview officials in the government that did give me a lot of their time. host: michael gordon has reported in war zones in afghanistan and panama. he was based in moscow for four years. we will go to ron from ohio on the independent line. caller: mr. gordon, do you feel the united states and the west have a misunderstanding of history as far as the tribal conflicts in that region? was there any attempt to point out to the muslim tribes and nations that we did go into bosnia to defend muslims? guest: i think the caller makes a number of interesting points. i am a journalist. i am not an advocate for the american government. there was criticism that the united states somehow oppressed muslims. if you